Timothy,
You are right. Our job is to deal with the student before us, not to speculate on how they came to be there or what kinds of issues have brought them to this place. It is especially important for those of us who do not have training in mental health to keep away from speculation.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Steve,
I agree. There are lots of circumstances that can lead to the same outward behaviors. Those of us who are not trained in the area, and who are not "treating" the student should stay away from making judgements about the "why" behind the behaviors we see.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I first ask the student what he needs from me and try to understand their behavior as explained by the student.Right now I have a very challanged student who flies off the handle about once a nite in class and he has no acomadation plan, after talking to him 3 times outside the room I asked if he ever thought that maybe he was wrong and not the rest of the class and told him his actions were not acceptable. he asked me if I could ever change my thoughts about him being a bad apple.I told him my thoughts about him were from his actions in class and he since has cooled down a bit walks and away from confrontations.I still have a week and a half with him and I will have to see how it goes. I was expecting a accomidation from him and know he has problems.
I relize there are alot of times that i may speculate on issues with students, but i always keep myself from using this with my teaching, because you can never be sure of who you are actually dealing with, and do not want to come across like you are not giving them the full amount of information they deserve.
you do not want to draw conclusions about psychological disabilities because we are not trained to determin what these disabilties may be and that we should see them only as students.
Yes, Sheryl, the rules are very different between K-12 and postsecondary settings. The emphasis on access that we respect often seems to be lost in the K-12 focus on success. We HOPE that all students will be successful, but we only provide accommodations to give students with disabilities the chance to succeed, not the promise!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I like your response here, and I liked the fact that the course stressed that accomodations are not reasonable if they water down the curriculum or expect less of the student. Coming from a background of teaching high school, I felt like that's what "accommodations" sometimes ended up doing at the high school level. It's a breath of fresh air to know that college level students truly need to earn their degree and meet the same expectations other students.
You are quite right, Victoria. The danger in making assumptions about what is happening based on observations of behavior is that we can only see how someone reacts -- we cannot know WHY without getting to know the student first. It is always best to treat all students the same (with respect for their learning potential) unless or until they request additional consideration.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I agree. In most cases, we do not know a student's history. There are many factors that may exist that other people may never be able to understand (such as military experiences, previous school experiences, etc.) that may affect someone's reactions, level of understanding, or ability to focus that do not necessarily have anything to do with a psychological disability. Nonetheless, the goal is the same - to identify (with student cooperation) and incorporate the best strategies for learning and success in the classroom and beyond.
Jennifer,
I like your open and welcoming attitude, but I have significant concerns about the process you describe. The student with a disability should have the opportunity to identify him/herself MUCH earlier in the process, and receive appropriate accommodations on your entrance exams. Might be something you would like to discuss with the powerse-that-be.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I believe it is important to not draw conclusions about a student’s possible disability because it could possibly make the teacher treat a student differently. Also we as teachers are not experts in that area of study so it would fall out of our scope of practice to evaluate students in that fashion. The college I work at all students must take an entrance exam as a requirement before enrolling. This is the first step for the education team to see if a student might have some challenges in particular areas but then also allows for some dialogue to begin with the student and education team. If a student does not pass the entrance exam they are given another attempt to see if a possible low score was an effect of something else such as nerves. If there are multiple attempts of not passing the Director of Education as well as lead program instructors set up a meeting to dialogue and build some rapport with this student. In this meeting there are specific steps that take place to help the students decide what he or she will need to be successful and to offer any support before the program even begins. Here we can find out if the student does have a known learning disability or if a student might need some extra help on a particular subject.
Kyle,
You are right, of course. Jumping to conclusions often leads to unpleasant landings. Your students will be well-served if you remember to get to know the student and look beyond the obvious.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
There are many reasons for the behavior of students in the classroom and jumping to conclusions can just make things worse. A student may come from a household where things aren't going well and getting away for class is the first time the student may be allowed to put their guard down. Or they may come from a household where going to school is looked down on so they can't study at home so they do poorly on their assignments or tests. Sit down with the student and discuss your concerns and try your best to figure out a strategy that will help the student succeed.
Laurna,
I agree. As instructors, it is up to us to provide accommodation as necessary -- and to do our best to provide the same level and quality of instruction to all students. What we want to avoid is stepping outside our role as teachers to try to serve as therapists. That isn't what they need from us!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Psychological disabilities can present themselves in many different forms in the classroom. Often the disability is something that the learner cannot necessarily control and it is up to us to provide the necessary accommodation and support to that student regardless of their behavior in the classroom. It is also important for us to understand that we are not medical professionals, we are teachers and are more likely to be able to support students effectively if we focus on what we can do to provide the student with the highest level of instruction possible to encourage success.
You are right. When we talk about students with "invisible" disabilities, especially psychological disabilities, what you see is NOT always what you are getting. It is important to keep an open mind and to encourage students to go through the right channels so that you are sure the adjustments you are making are both appropriate and in the best interests of both the student and the curriculum.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
With simple observation, we may be inclined to think a student does or does not have a psychological disability when in fact, the opposite is true. That is why it is imperative that students with diagnosed disabilities present the proper documentation to school officials so the faculty can adhere to reasonable accommodation requests.
Absolutely, DeVon. Jumping to conclusions is never a healthy exercise, but it is particularly a problem when you are talking about a student with a psychological disability. There are LOTS of difficulties that might show up as the same behavior (for instance, inattentiveness). You want to make sure that your response to a student is based on need, not conjecture.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Well in drawing conclusions about a psychological disability opens yourself up to be horribly wrong about a person and a disability they may or may not have. I have learned that drawing a conclusion in the classroom without having stated facts are big no nos! If you conclusion fails to be correct it can be very offensive, create the feeling of judgment, and potentially create an issue with you employer.
Nicely said. I applaud your very nonjudgmental attitude. I am generally in favor of treating students with disabilities as fully capable students in the classroom, with the same expectations and the same potential.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
